Imagine you are listening to a song, then you walk towards your piano and start recreating the experience. Fascinating, right? If you desire, you can live this moment just by following certain steps and exercising regularly. To turn your imagination into reality, you have to train your ears. Using your ears to play the piano is an extraordinary skill that can be developed and polished easily.
Playing by ear will help you save time and enjoy the process. You can play a piece on the piano either by reading the music or just listening to the tunes. Reading sheet music can be difficult and exhausting while playing by ear is simple and interesting. It’s your choice whether you want to employ your eyes or your ears, but it is advisable to master both the arts. Reading will help you strengthen technical aspects while listening will allow you to explore creative depths.
You can choose both or you can choose either. Numerous artists play by ear and don’t even know how to read the score, whereas some artists believe that playing through reading is the best method. If you are a beginner, then it’s the perfect time to train your ears. As you learn the notes, teach your ears to remember them. You can start playing music pieces without learning the complex art of reading sheet music.
Before playing a song, it’s beneficial to train your ear and mind for upcoming challenges. To train your ear, you need to exercise, and to train your mind, you need to pick out a book relating to music theory. Let’s learn some exercises prior to playing a music piece using our ear.
Notes Exercise
This is a basic exercise where you have to compare two notes and identify the higher one and the lower one. You can ask anyone to play those two notes on the piano. All you have to do is sit back and observe the difference in frequency. Don’t be disappointed with a few wrong answers because you’ll be learning how to answer correctly. Try to exercise daily and soon you will notice the difference in your observation skills.
Interval Exercise
Once you learn how to differentiate between the high note and the low note, you can move on to the next exercise and interpret the distance between those notes. As you listen to those two notes, try to predict the interval as well. This exercise raises the difficulty bar, but helps in quick training. Once you are able to interpret the interval, it will be a piece of cake for you to identify the notes just by listening to the melodies.
Chord Exercise
Along with melodies, you should train your ear to recognize harmonies. To recreate harmony just by listening, your ear should be trained to identify the chords. This is where music theory comes in. If you are familiar with the basic concepts, such as chords, scales, and chord progressions, then you can easily imitate the harmony using your ear. Sit with someone you are comfortable with and ask them to play random chords. Your task is to name the chords without glancing at the keyboard. This exercise will help you speed up the process of learning to play by ear.
Chord Progression Exercise
When you master the art of identifying the chord, increase the difficulty level and attempt to recognize the chord progressions. The majority of songs use the same chords, but the variation is brought by the chord progressions. It’s essential to practice identifying the chord progressions if you don’t want to waste time using the trial and error method.
Music Theory (Mind Exercise)
It’s not an exercise, but more like a beneficial suggestion. Learning music theory will help you play better and play by ear. You can play using your ear even without studying music theory. But for optimal training, you need to train your mind and familiarize yourself with various concepts. When you play a song by ear, brief knowledge about music theory can acts as a catalyst.
Exercise daily to train your ear effectively. You will realize the importance of these exercises when you set off on a journey to learn to play a song by ear.
Select A Simple Piece
When you are musically training your ears, then you must consider simple pieces. Select the song with a melody that is sorted and easily recognizable. The mantra of efficient learning is to start with simple.
Listen, Listen, Listen
After selecting a piece, you have to listen and keep listening. Continue with other tasks but keep the music on. Listen to the song the whole day long. Keep listening to the song until you can sing it. Don’t panic! You don’t have to be an expert singer. Here, singing implies that you should be able to match the rhythm and hum along.
Find The Notes
Once the song is settled in your mind, it’s hunting time. You have to hunt notes in the forest of the piano keyboard, using your fingers as weapons. If you have been practicing, then it will be easy for you to find the notes. Nonetheless, you can employ a trial-and-error method to note down the correct note. Remember to finish the first line before moving to the second. Don’t try to skip and jump. Learn it slowly to play it nicely.
Play The Melody
Once your note-hunting is finished, you are ready to practice the melody. Allow your right hand to flow through the notes and recreate the melody.
Employ The Left Hand
Now listen to the song once again and try to identify the chords. It is time for you to play the harmony using your ears. Try a few chords, try a few chord progressions, and notice if they match the music piece you selected. Keep looking for the correct chords and keep practicing.
Coordinate The Melody And The Accompaniment
Once you understand the notes and the chords, it time for you to coordinate both your hands and practice until you play it eloquently.
In the beginning, the process will come across as a challenge, but as you practice, it will be a melodious piece of cake. Don’t worry if you don’t get all the notes correct. Playing by ear is an art and a touch of creativity is essential. Playing using your ear helps you experiment and explore new possibilities. You can start playing by ear with just a little knowledge about music. But if you desire to hone the skill, then exercise it regularly. The key to playing the piano by ear is to train your ear.
